“I’ve considered that. And maybe that’s something I’ll do as well, but…I want the experience, want to be pregnant, to feel a life growing inside me. I can’t imagine anything more…amazing.”
Colm nodded. “Yeah. I want to be a dad too. Someday. In the far, far future.”
Kelli grimaced. “Still hanging on to your vow of not settling down until your forties?”
“Still a lot of women who haven’t gotten to enjoy an evening in my bed. Hate to take myself off the market too soon.”
“On behalf of my gender, let me just reassure you…none of us would lose any sleep at night over that sale ending. And let’s face it, you have the luxury of waiting as long as you want. You can make babies at any age.”
Colm considered her point of view, her concerns. “I understand why you’re telling me and not Paddy, Kell. You and I have lived parallel lives when it comes to our dating histories. Neither one of us has ever been particularly lucky at love. Everyone in my family gets the fairy tale ending, while you and I stand on the sidelines and watch.”
“Paddy didn’t exactly get the fairy tale ending.”
“No. I guess he didn’t.”
“And you’re right. I love your family, Colm, but damn if they don’t make things tough on us mere mortals. I’ve spent too many years around people who’ve found the most amazing, beautiful true loves, while I seem to be a magnet for losers.”
He could completely relate to that. “Which makes it harder when you’re still alone night after night.”
She studied his face. “You do get it.”
He nodded slowly. “I get it.” Painfully so, though he didn’t add that part.
“That’s why I’m done, Colm. I’m taking my hat out of the ring. Giving up on the dating scene.”
“I don’t understand how taking yourself out of the dating scene will solve the ticking clock issue,” he said, struggling to connect the dots. “Those two things don’t go together.”
“I don’t need a boyfriend or a husband to have a baby.”
Colm frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going to have a baby. On my own.”
Colm gave her a crooked grin. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m fairly certain no human is capable of parthenogenesis. There’s this little thing called the sperm.”
Kelli smacked his arm. “I know that, asshole. But there’s also this little thing called a sperm donor.”
Jesus. Kelli was batting a thousand on the shocks tonight. “You’d seriously go that route?”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah. I would. I’ve been thinking about it a lot this past year. Like a lot. I want to have a baby, Colm.”
“So what are we talking here? Turkey baster or something?”
She laughed. “Crude. But yeah, something like that. This isn’t some spur-of-the-moment decision. I’ve considered everything. Budgeting, childcare, my living situation. I have a plan for all of it. I know I can do this.”
“Yeah, but a sperm donor? You can’t get pregnant like that. I mean, what are you talking about? Going to a sperm bank and picking out some swimmers based on…Jesus. Based on what?” Colm wasn’t sure why her plan bothered him so much. It was none of his business, and it wasn’t like he didn’t believe Kelli would be a great mother, single or not. She’d be fantastic at it.
Sometimes he wondered if her still-single status had something to do with the fact she was an extremely strong, independent, speak-her-mind woman. Colm figured there were probably a lot of guys who would be intimidated by that.
He didn’t fall into that category, but that was because he’d grown up surrounded by women just like her, and there was no way his mother, aunts, and female cousins wouldn’t have kicked his ass from here to Iceland if he’d revealed any caveman-like attitudes.
“A sperm bank is an option, but I don’t really want to go that route. Ideally, I’d like to at least know the guy. I mean, you know my girlfriends, Lydia and Kristen—”
“The lipstick lesbians?”
“You know, when you say stupid shit like that, it—”
“Okay, okay,” he said with a grin. Kelli was friends with two of the hottest women on the planet, so it had really rocked his world when his flirting was rebuffed. His ego had taken a major hit until Kelli let him off the hook and told him why he’d never stood a chance. “Believe me, I know exactly who they are. A loss for our team,” he mumbled, enjoying the way she narrowed her eyes at him. It was so easy to get a rise out of her.
“After they got married, they decided they wanted to have a kid. Lydia asked a guy she’d grown up with if he would donate the sperm. She knew his family history, knew him, plus he’s a hot orthodontist, smart, funny, the whole package.”
“And he just gave them sperm and walked away? Gave up all rights to the kid?”
“For one thing, he’s married and lives in Iowa, and I’m sure he’ll see the kid on occasion, but you’re looking at this the wrong way. That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“The point is, Lydia and Kristen are the parents. He just gave them…a gift.”
“Of sperm? You know most people give Keurigs or place settings as wedding gifts. Not sure I’ve ever seen sperm on a registry.”
“I hate you.”
Colm smiled. “I know.”
“I don’t even know why I started this conversation with you. Forget I said anything.”
“No. I don’t want to forget it. I’m glad you’re telling me. And I meant what I said. I do understand.”
She tilted her head.
“Always so suspicious,” he teased.
“I considered talking to Sunnie or Yvonne or Darcy, but they’re all so…emotional, driven by true love and all that shit.”
“Yep. The Collins curse is real.” For years, he’d sworn the Collinses had lived under a curse and, when it struck, it caused the person afflicted to fall in love fast and hard. It had been a joke for a while, but as more and more of his cousins
